Ellipsis (harmony)

What it means

In harmony, ellipsis refers to the omission of the regularly expected resolution of a dissonance or a tension chord. Instead of proceeding to the expected target harmony, the music turns toward another, often surprising harmonic continuation, so the expected resolution is skipped, or elliptically shortened.

Musical use

Ellipsis serves composers as a means of deliberately breaking harmonic expectations, thereby creating surprise, tension, or an unexpected turn, for instance when a dominant proceeds not to the expected tonic but to a distant chord. Especially in Romantic and late Romantic music, ellipsis is used to expand tonal order smoothly without abandoning it entirely.

Ellipsis should be distinguished from a deceptive cadence, which likewise avoids an expected resolution but typically moves to a specific, clearly defined substitute harmony such as the submediant, whereas ellipsis is more open and can lead to quite different, even remote chords. It differs from a mere modulation in that it refers to a single, concrete resolution step rather than describing a longer change of key.

Performance practice

When analysing a work, listen specifically for passages where a tension chord arises, and note whether the expected resolution actually occurs or whether the music elliptically takes another path. When performing yourself, it helps to bring out such elliptical turns deliberately in sound, for instance through a small agogic nuance or a dynamic emphasis, to make the surprising harmonic turn perceptible to listeners.